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Southwestern salad with parsley lime dressing

I love making my own salad dressings, there is so much room for creativity and if you are a little adventurous you will be rewarded with amazing flavor combinations. The best part about making salad dressings as opposed to buying them is that you know exactly what goes into your dressing, no preservatives, no additives and no chemicals you can’t pronounce let alone eat!

It is time for our secret recipe club reveal for this month. The blog that I got was Shannon’s searching for dessert . What I really loved about Shannon’s blog was her meatless Monday series. I know that searching for vegetarian recipes on a blog called searching for dessert sounds a little crazy but lately I have been trying to include more and more meatless recipes into my diet and I found her meatless Monday collection very interesting and inspiring. I have bookmarked her Black Bean Breakfast Enchiladas and her Southwest Quinoa Sliders but I finally decided to make her southwestern salad .

The Southwestern salad is colorful and refreshing, a great way to combat cold grey fall days in which colors seem to be seeping out of everything. The different textures make this salad more interesting, the crunch of the lettuce, the creaminess of the avocados. The juicy tomatoes and buttery beans. What ties the whole thing together though is the dressing. If you have never tried combining garlic, parsley and yogurt, you ,my friend, are really missing out .

I modified Shannon’s dressing recipe a little. I used labneh instead of the sourcream. Labneh is a great alternative to sour cream. A healthier, lighter replacement that cuts on the fat without compromising the flavor. I also used parsley instead of the cilantro. I love parsley in salads! I think that it is definitely worth dedicating a salad to.

After making the dressing I taste tested it with a little pita bread and I have to say I was blown away. It is creamy (without having all the fat or cream) , garlic-y but not overly so and with all the parsley in it, it turned out to be really refreshing. The parsley lime dressing was amazing on the salad but I think it will also work beautifully on grilled meat or drizzled on a sandwich, perhaps I will try it next on a flafel sandwich

Southwestern Salad
Serves 3-4Ingredients:

For the dressing
¼ cup sourcream or labneh (for a healthier lighter version)

1/4 cup greek yogurt

1 cup fresh parsley chopped

3-4 tablespoons olive oil1-2 cloves of garlic chopped

2 tablespoons lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste

For the salad

½ cup corn kernels

4-5 cups romaine lettuce, chopped

2 large plum tomatoes, chopped

½ (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

¼ cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and chopped or sliced

Directions: Prepare the dressing

Blend all the dressing ingredients in your blender until smooth, set aside.

Make the salad
In a large bowl place all of the romaine.

Layer the corn, tomatoes, avocados and black beans.

Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

Crush tortilla chips over the top of salad.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad.

If you are going to refrigerate the salad then don’t add the tortilla chips or dressing until you are ready to serve

Notes:

Feel free to get creative with the vegetables you add, try peppers, onions or your favorite vege

I had Shannon’s blog in June and I also gravitated toward her meatless main dishes. I made the quinoa sliders that you mentioned. They were amazing. But you made a great choice with this salad too. Looks delicious and the dressing sounds bright and refreshing.

That salad had my name written all over it, including the dressing. But I think I might keep the cilantro, it’s one of my favourite herbs and it’s sharp earthy flavour would be an excellent contrast to the sweet corn and red peppers and creamy avocado. This salad is definitely what I would call ‘happy food’

The dressing was indeed creamy and full of flavor. I have tried using the leftovers with some spinach leaves and it was amazing and as a spread in a sandwich. It is a versatile dressing that is refreshingly flavorful

[…] Meal three: Now this recipe is blowing up right now on Pinterest and I can’t want to try it. Try Sweet Potato and Mozzarella Egg Skillet this week! I think the avocado would taste great on top of this! I will add a salad on the side and use the salad mix with a Parsley Lime Dressing. […]

[…] This Southwest Salad would be great with Horchata and some tortilla chips! Thanks to a Chef in Disguise for this great picture and make sure you get that recipe for her amazing Parsley Lime Dressing! […]